Policemen indicted for girl’s rape, murder

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court on Tuesday indicted two policemen on charges of kidnap, rape and murder of a three-year-old girl.

Judge Syed Hasan Shah Bukhari of the ATC-I read out the charges against the traffic police constables, Bashir Ahmed and Noor Mohammad, stating that the suspects committed rape and murder intentionally after kidnapping the girl, Sana, in Noorani Basti in Korangi, and thereby committed the crimes punishable under Sections 364-A (kidnapping or abducting a person under the age of 10), 376 (punishment for rape) and 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code within the cognizance of his court.

“I further charge you (suspects) that in furtherance of your common intension on above date and place, committed the offences of kidnapping, rape and qatl-e-amd, which created terror, a sense of fear and insecurity among the family members of victim and public, thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 7 (a), (b) & (c) Anti-terrorism Act 1997 within the cognizance of this court,” the judge stated.

However, the suspects denied the charges and opted to contest the case. The court summoned prosecution witnesses to record their statements on the next date of hearing.

The court adjourned the hearing till Wednesday.

Earlier, the investigation officer stated in the charge-sheet that two witnesses had identified the suspects and assigned their role in the commissioning of the crime during an identification parade held in the court of a judicial magistrate. The witnesses also recorded their statements against the suspects under Section 164 of the criminal procedure code before the magistrate, he added.

The section of a sexual assault was not initially included in the charge-sheet, but medical evidence from the chemical examiner’s office confirmed that the girl was subjected to it before her death, and it was therefore added to the charge-sheet by the IO.

The prosecution said that the victim’s body was recovered from a manhole near the FTC building on a lead given by the suspects following their arrest on July 5. Later, both the suspects were remanded in judicial custody.

Special Public Prosecutor Mohammad Khan Buriro said that the trial would be conducted on a day-to-day basis and the case was likely to be decided by the end of this month.

According to the prosecution, Head Constable Bashir Ahmed and Constable Noor Mohammad of the traffic police were arrested for kidnapping three-year-old Sana, daughter of Mohammad Qasim, on July 3 when she was playing with her friends near her house in Korangi. They allegedly subjected her to a sexual assault, killed her and dumped the body into a manhole near the FTC building.

A case (FIR 331/2009) was registered against the suspects under Sections 364, 376 and 302/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 6(b) punishable under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 on the complaint of the victim’s uncle, Abdul Hashim, at the Zaman Town police station.
Source: Dawn
Date:8/19/2009